November 02, 2009

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Marrakesh, Morocco_ After facing a barrage of press coverage that the U.S. has effectively sided with Israel in downplaying the issue of Jewish settlement construction in the West Bank in an effort to get Israel-Palestinian peace talks relaunched, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton today walked back comments she made in Jerusalem at a late night news conference Saturday next to a beaming and self-confident Israeli Prime Minister.

Speaking at a luncheon meeting with Morocco's foreign minister in Marrakesh today, where Clinton is attending a conference of Arab foreign ministers, Clinton tried to clarify her previous remarks on the Obama administration's position on Israeli settlments.

"Israel has done a few things but needs to do much more," Clinton said, adding that the Obama administration's position is that it does not accept the legitimacy of continued Israeli settlment activity. But she also said Israel has put some limitations on itself, which if acted upon would be "unprecedented."

"What we are trying to achieve is a two state solution," Clinton said. "That is my goal. And when either party takes any step that makes it look like it moves us in the right direction, ... although not what I would prefer, I'm going to positively reinforce that."

"This is an opportunity," Clinton said. "You get into negotiations" in order "to get to a goal many of us worked for for many years."

Clinton seemed very prepared for the question, reading from prepared notes, a pool reporter noted.

Cilnton is here at the Forum for the Future conference of Arab foreign ministers in Morocco in large part to try to get Arab foreign ministers to throw their support to Abbas who the U.S. has asked to agree to go into talks with Israel with something short of a total Israeli settlement freeze.

But Arab League Secretary General Amr Moussa, also here for the conference, told reporters earlier today that Arab states would not be supportive of such a U.S. request.

Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki, speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the Marrakesh conference, said while they were surprised to see Clinton's statement in Jerusalem, and thought it was inconsistent with what Clinton told them in Abu Dhabi earlier Saturday, they are happy the position has been clarified and brought back into line with their understanding. He also said that the Palestinian Authority is happy that Obama has made the Israeli Palestinian issue and the creation of a Palestinian state a priority and they believe in him and his sincerity.

PA President Abbas has faced a decline in Palestinian public opinion in recent weeks, in part because of his previous decision not to request U.N. action on a recent report by a commission led by Judge Richard Goldstone which investigated possible war crimes committed during Israel's campaign in Gaza earlier this year. Abbas' deferral was heavily encouraged by Washington and apparently originally condoned by some Arab states that later let Abbas take the heat when the position was roundly criticized in the Arab world, and which he recently reversed.

Abbas has called for new Palestinian elections to be held in January.

The Washington Institute for Near East Policy's David Makosvky said the Obama administration may have to wait until those elections are held (if they occur) before Abbas -- known as Abu Mazen -- will be willing to go into talks with Israel under the current terms. "A law of Mideast peacemaking is that compromises do not occur during a Palestinian or Israeli election campaign," Makovsky, co-author of a recent book on Middle East peacemaking, Myths, Illusion and Peace, said by email. "If Abu Mazen heads for elections, he will find it convenient not to budge so he can flex his nationalist muscles. If this is his intention, Obama Administration peacemaking will be on hold until the Palestinian elections end in early 2010."

Both Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu are expected to speak to the UJC/Jewish Federation general assembly next week in Washington, D.C.

UPDATE: Here's Clinton's full statement as sent by the State Department:

For 40 years, successive American administrations of both parties have opposed Israel’s settlement policy. That is absolutely a fact.

And the Obama Administration’s position on settlements is clear, unequivocal. It has not changed. And as the President has said on many occasions, the United States does not accept the legitimacy of continued Israeli settlements. Now, the Israelis have responded to the call from the United States, the Palestinians and the Arab world to stop settlement activity by expressing a willingness to restrain settlement activity. They will build no new settlements, expropriate no land, allow no new construction or approvals.

And let me just say this offer falls far short of what we would characterize as our position, or what our preference would be. But if it is acted upon, it will be an unprecedented restriction on settlements and would have a significant and meaningful affect on restraining their growth.

Let me take a step back because I want to put this into the broader context. I will offer positive reinforcement to the parties when I believe they are taking steps that support the objective of reaching a two-state solution.

I will also push them as I have in public and in private to do even more. And in my report to the President last month, I talked about Israeli willingness to restrain settlement activity as a positive step.

In the same report, I praised President Abbas’ leadership of the Palestinian Authority for their courage and the security measures on the West Bank. The steps being taken under President Abbas and Prime Minister Fayed are also unprecedented and we have never seen such effective security. I have on many occasions going back – as you know in Sharm El Sheikh - praised the accomplishments that the Palestinian Authority has demonstrated in building, training, and reforming their security forces.

I told Prime Minister Netanyahu that these positive steps on the part of the Palestinians should be met by positive steps from Israel - movement and access, operations by the IDF and on Israeli security arrangements on the West Bank. Israel has done a few things in that regard but they need to do much more. And President Abbas has shown leadership and determination on this issue and Israel should reciprocate.

I just want to clarify that what we are trying to achieve is a two-state solution with a state that represents the aspirations of the Palestinian people – the sovereignty and to have control over their own future, and provide the security guarantees to Israel for their own future. That is my goal. And when either party takes any steps that looks like it moves us in the right direction – even if it is not what I would like or what I would like prefer - I’m going to positively reinforce that.

This is an opportunity for both sides to try to move forward together, to get into negotiations, and to realize the goal that many of us around this table have supported and worked for for many years.

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1

See all the love you get for giving the Palestinians 900 million ?? Dont worry about Americans..just keep on throwing our Treasury out the window to ungrateful Palestinians like these. Heck of a job Hill...heck of a job... Now watch Obama throw even more money at them. !!!

"Israel has done a few things but needs to do much more," Clinton said, adding that the Obama administration's position is that it does not accept the legitimacy of continued Israeli settlment activity.
Hillary's true words came on Saturday. She is pro-Israel and always has been. Note she says "the obama administration's position." She did not say "our position." She does not agree with obama. Remember the primaries - they disagreed on many foreign policy matters. I don't know how she continues to do this job on obama's idiotic foreign policies.

"Israel has done a few things but needs to do much more," Clinton said, adding that the Obama administration's position is that it does not accept the legitimacy of continued Israeli settlment activity.
Hillary's true words came on Saturday. She is pro-Israel and always has been. Note she says "the obama administration's position." She did not say "our position." She does not agree with obama. Remember the primaries - they disagreed on many foreign policy matters. I don't know how she continues to do this job on obama's idiotic foreign policies.

I think you are correct that Hillary and Obama differ. That's fine. Hillary executes Obama's policy as she should. But don't think either as a magic bullet. For years and years others have tried and all have failed.

Foreign policy is like a change of clothing. Have you noticed in every photo op of Hillary on grand tour, her wardrobe changes with each stop. It must take a jet to carry her wardrobe. Like Obama-Clinton foreign policy. Change but not Hope.
JAG
Longdrycreek Ranch
Texas Panhandle

Diplomacy is about sending subtle signals and maintaining balance. Unfortunately, that's way over the heads of those of us who read Politico with the aim of finding something nasty to say about our political opponents.

looks like AIPAC got a hold of Hill and said "did u 4get who u work for?". what she said was correct, but AIPAC said how dare u even question the mighty Israel!! peace will NEVER happen as long as every1 ***gles AIPAC's u know what.

November 2, 2009,
Now is the time for Europe to divorce itself from the AIPAC-controlled, American foreign policy on Israel that accepts gross human rights violations i.e. the killing of 900 civilians in Gaza, in January last, which included the deliberate killing of 320 children and the illegal use of white phosphorus as a chemical weapon.
Obviously the United States will act as it, or the American Israel lobby group, sees fit - but Europe will hopefully conform to the principles of democracy, international law, the Geneva Conventions on Human Rights and basic morality.
The armies of western democratic nations would never be ordered to target civilians, unarmed women and innocent children. It is incumbent, therefore, for Europe to show its condemnation of such acts of barbarity.
Colindale London

Sec. Clinton: Please ask Israelis about technology to protect you and others from this:
SECRET FED PROGRAM SILENTLY TORTURES, IMPAIRS U.S. CITIZENS WITH MICROWAVE/LASER RADIATION, SAYS MAINSTREAM JOURNALIST
* "Directed energy weapons," portable units and a nationwide installation camouflaged as cell towers, induce weakness, exhaustion, physical and neurological impairment, strokes, aneurysms, cancer -- and many victims do not realize what is making them sick.
• Thousands of Americans held hostage in their own homes to police-protected, fed-supported vigilante "community policing" stalking units, equipped with warrantless GPS devices, who vandalize and terrorize unjustly "targeted individuals" and their families.
* Regional Homeland Security- administered "fusion centers" reportedly serve as command centers for covert electromagnetic radiation attacks, pervasive surveillance, financial sabotage of those identified as "dissidents," "trouble-makers" or slandered as threats to society.
* Use of microwave weaponry to torture and impair political opponents recently confirmed by deposed Honduras President Manuel Zelaya.
* Pleas for justice, to local police and FBI, go unanswered -- as do demands for a Department of Justice Civil Rights Division investigation and congressional hearings.
"These are crimes against humanity and the Constitution, being perpetrated under the cover of national security and 'safe streets' by multiple federal and local agencies and commands -- an American genocide hiding in plain sight, enabled by the naivete of those who think 'it can't happen here.'" -- Victor Livingston, former reporter for WTXF-TV Philadelphia, Phila. Bulletin, N.Y. Daily News, St. Petersburg Times; producer/host, MSG Network Sports Business Report; columnist, NowPublic.com/scrivener.
http://nowpublic.com/world/govt-tortures-me-silent-microwave-weapons-ousted-s-prez *
http://nowpublic.com/world/gestapo-usa-govt-funded-vigilante-network-terrorizes-america OR (if link is corrupted / disabled): http://NowPublic.com/scrivener RE: "GESTAPO USA"

"What we are trying to achieve is a two state solution," Clinton said.
This will be the mechanism for the total destruction of the Jewish state.
Mr. Colin Dale, Israel was the first democracy in the middle east and they are light years ahead in civility and culture compared to their neighbors. Denouncing Israel with no acknowledgement of the crimes Hamas, and Hezbollah have done to children for decades is a weak arguement. The Gaza War? Hamas launched thousands of rockets before their was any retaliation by Israel. Happy I live in a country which would destroy an enemy after one rocket was fired. The Jews have been on the brink of annihilation before and I would defend myself as a Jew by any and all means neccessary.

$ 900,000,000 in US tax dollars poured into Palestinian pockets, and a new US policy every week so that nobody really knows what it might be now. This is like watching a Monty Python skit.
I had some hope that Clinton would bring a vague stability to the inexperienced and ludicrously idealistic Obama. Sadly that doesn't seem to be happening.

900 million to the Palestinians...wow!! That's about how much we give Israel every month. Sounds fair to me. Here's the bottom line. Israel has NO reason to settle this. The only thing that allows Israel to win is capitulation by the Arabs. Otherwise, it is in Israel's interest to continue the policy of holding meetings, arguing about the meetings, and then wating a few years to hold more meetings.

Israel has done enough. We offered them more land than 1967 borders and they refused. We have withdrawn from Gaza and were rewarded with rockets and a kidnapped soldier. We try to come to peace and they will not recognize Israel as a Jewish state. How come there are Arabs in Israel that have no problem with it, but these "palestinians" (a non-existent nation) want to see it eliminated so they can take it over?

@lgu1: If the Dems get destroyed in 2010, then her being thrown out by the guy who helped destroy them is a plus for Clinton, not a negative. My guess is that Clinton will leave on her own sometime next Spring....before the Dem disaster in November

I think Hillary needs to put some starch in her underwear and try to repeat the same message to all audiences. By trying to be diplomatic and make everyone happy, she justs make herself (and Obama) look foolish

@lgu1: You may be right, but I don't see Clinton allowing herself to be "set up". She's too politically savvy for that. Plus, she has an army of people, including Bill, ready to dump all over Obama on a daily basis....if she gets canned. I don’t see the Obama crowd wanting that kind of negative media hype (and trust me, an Obama/Clinton battle would be a field day for the media), especially if he continues his decline in the polls. When Hillary detects that Obama's weakness is significant and irreversible, she will bail.

Israel is our ally, but not the ally of this administration. Obama is beholden to the Muslims for two reasons, they launched him with so much money laundered through the Mosques in small donations, and his early indoctrination, which we all know takes effect and becomes indelible. Israel is another Obama casualty--now being thrown under the bus. And Hillary has sold out to this despicable president. I was a big Hillary supporter. Nevef again.

Israel should do what it does Best "Violence of Action" against Aggression.. that's what it has had to do for it entire exsistence and sadly what it will have to do for generations to come. If she wants to continue. Short of using the Big Dog! x4 maybe 5.
You can no more Talk and Trust the Palestinian's than you can Hamas or any other Terrorist Organization. And if you attempt to, You do it from a Position of Strength, not Weakness or Brokered Weakness by another Country or God forbid "The UN" that knows Nothing about "Living" under the Circumstances of "The Israeli" life.

Why is everyone reporting this as though Hill made an error? She didnt say anothing Obama hasnt said himself, as Reuters reported yesterday:
So the Palestinians ran crying to all their outlets and connections and lo and behold the media reported Hillary Stopping Peace Talks!! This despite the fact that Hillary said nothing Obama has not said himself!
On a one-day Middle East visit on Saturday, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton endorsed Israel's view that settlement expansion in the occupied West Bank should not be a bar to resuming negotiations -- contradicting the Palestinian position.
Netanyahu has proposed limiting building for now to some 3,000 settler homes already approved by Israel in the West Bank. He does not regard building in occupied East Jerusalem, annexed in defiance of international opposition, as settlement.
U.S. President Barack Obama himself, after persuading Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in September to meet Netanyahu in New York, called only for "restraint" in settlement, not the "freeze" he had previously proposed.

Watching this U.S. Administration attempting foreign policy is like watching a really bad reality TV show. Unscripted with only a vague idea of a plot line, no one knows how it will turn out in the end. Here's a hint. There isn't any such thing as a correction. Once it's said, it's said. You back pedal on something once, no one takes you seriously after that, ever again.

It is comments like this that set off a red flag for me, "Israel has done a few things in that regard but they need to do much more." I don't hear Hillary saying the same about the Palestinians. She says that they have made improvements, and that Israel should reciprocate and do more. Not that the Palestinians have made a start, but need to do much more. It is always only Israel that needs to offer more, retreat from more land, remove more roadblocks, release more Palestinian prisoners.

Clinton is the wrong person to represent the US in the Middle East. In her meetings with Abbas and Netanyahu, she shot her own credibility in the foot. Allowing the Israelis to continue building 3000 houses in territory that belongs to Palestinians, and demanding that Palestinians make all the concessions is outrageous. Clinton will never be seen as a fair broker in the Middle East and Obama too has lost the trust of the Palestinians. Netanyahu, overjoyed by Clinton's help, will stall and opportunistically pass the blame onto the Palestinians, when in fact it is his government--with its racist apartheid policies--that is blocking peace. If Clinton were a true diplomat, instead of an Israeli shill, she would have addressed the blockade of Gaza, the illegal separation wall, and Israel's transference policies as genuine preconditions for peace talks. Instead, by overlooking Israel's war crimes, crimes against humanity, land theft, and apartheid policies, the Obama administration becomes complicit in Israel's racism and colonialism. To its everlasting shame and disgrace, the US House will soon pass a resolution rejecting the findings of the Goldstone report. Is there any other country that receives the moral and legal exemptions that Israel does? Instead of colluding with Israel's war crimes' cover-up, the US should be the first to hold Israel accountable for its actions. But perhaps that would require something the US Congress has never been known for: courage.

Clinton is the wrong person to represent the US in the Middle East. In her meetings with Abbas and Netanyahu, she shot her own credibility in the foot. Allowing the Israelis to continue building 3000 houses in territory that belongs to Palestinians, and demanding that Palestinians make all the concessions is outrageous. Clinton will never be seen as a fair broker in the Middle East and Obama too has lost the trust of the Palestinians. Netanyahu, overjoyed by Clinton's help, will stall and opportunistically pass the blame onto the Palestinians, when in fact it is his government--with its racist apartheid policies--that is blocking peace. If Clinton were a true diplomat, instead of an Israeli shill, she would have addressed the blockade of Gaza, the illegal separation wall, and Israel's transference policies as genuine preconditions for peace talks. Instead, by overlooking Israel's war crimes, crimes against humanity, land theft, and apartheid policies, the Obama administration becomes complicit in Israel's racism and colonialism. To its everlasting shame and disgrace, the US House will soon pass a resolution rejecting the findings of the Goldstone report. Is there any other country that receives the moral and legal exemptions that Israel does? Instead of colluding with Israel's war crimes' cover-up, the US should be the first to hold Israel accountable for its actions. But perhaps that would require something the US Congress has never been known for: courage.

I got an idea - how about asking the leaders of the Arab world to put their money where their mouths are and try to SUPPORT the notion of a Palestinean state? Instead of criticizing Israel or the US over the 'setlement freeze' or whatever.
Israel's withdraw from Gaza was a national security disaster, so if anything they're more reluctant to give up further land to the Palestinians, until the P's can demonostrate they can live as a peaceful neighbor.
Everyone knows this, including the leaders of the Arab world, who just sit there and harp about the plight their 'Palestinian brothers' to deflect attention from their own issues.
biggest hypocrates. and of Obama had any sense he'd realize that.